Des Plaines uncertain about committing to charging station offer

Despite a company's offer of a free electric vehicle charging station, Des Plaines aldermen want to consider alternatives before bringing such a station to the city.

The San Francisco-based company ECOtality, Inc. recently approached the city with the prospect of a free electric vehicle charging station and $1,000 toward the cost of station installation. The offer comes as part of a $115 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to add charging stations across the country with the goal of collecting data on the use of electric vehicle charging stations.

But at a recent City Council meeting, some Des Plaines aldermen said they had reservations about the proposal and would rather weigh every option before committing to spend taxpayer dollars on electric vehicle charging.

The offer from ECOtality includes a 50/50 revenue share with the city on $1 per hour cost of charging billed to customers, and a provision that ECOtality handle all maintenance of the charging station. Once the company has collected the necessary data to fulfill the requirements of its federal government grant, the station would belong to the city, which could decide to take over maintenance or have it removed.

According to a staff memo, a dual charging station could be installed in the Metra parking lot at the southeast corner of Lee Street and the railroad tracks. Assuming the station is used by two vehicles eight hours a day, every day of the year, the charging station could net about $2,450 a year for the city, officials said.

At the recent meeting, a Park Ridge resident and advisor with an electric vehicle charging station installation company presented aldermen with an alternate proposal that he claims could generate more revenue for the city.

Tim Milburn, an advisor at Green Way Energy, LLC, said he originally approached the city this summer about installing a different company's charging station, called ChargePoint, but never received a response.

Milburn, who also pursued installing charging stations in Park Ridge, said the state offers a $7,500 rebate for an electric vehicle charging station. He said his company could provide the city with a ChargePoint charging station for about $350 more than ECOtality, but would generate more revenue to the city for each motorist who visits the charging station.

Milburn also said ChargePoint stations are more prevalent in the Chicago area. About 200 ChargePoint stations are located in northern Illinois, Milburn said, including stations at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines and Golf Mill Shopping Center in Niles.

Conversely, ECOtality has 10 stations currently in the Chicago area, according to its website. But a company spokeswoman said more charging stations are being considered throughout the area.

Last month, Naperville officials announced a possible partnership with ECOtality at part of the same U.S. Department of Energy grant program.